Federal investigators seeking the cause of a North Side train derailment are taking a close look
at the tracks, after early scrutiny of the crew’s actions and the train itself revealed no glaring
problems.

“The track is of particular interest to us,” said Earl Weener of the National Transportation
Safety Board at a briefing tonight.

NTSB investigators stressed afterward that the investigation is in its infancy and could take up
to 18 months to conclude what caused the Wednesday morning derailment near the state
fairgrounds.

Norfolk Southern Corp., meanwhile, had crews working nonstop at the scene of the fiery crash,
laying new railroad tracks in an effort to get the busy stretch of railway back online as soon as
federal regulators signed off on the repairs.

Weener said nothing seemed amiss to the three-person crew in the moments before 17 of the
mile-long train’s 98 cars jumped the tracks in a curve, triggering explosions and a massive fire
that burned for more than 24 hours.

“No issues have been identified with their operation of the train,” he said. “We identified no
issues or anomalies with the cars involved.”

Officials initially said that 16 cars had derailed. But after removing wreckage today, they
realized that 17 had gone off the tracks.

Weener said the middle of three tank cars, each hauling 30,000 gallons of highly flammable
ethanol, ruptured in the derailment and caught fire. The fire then caused two other tanks to
rupture and burn, he said. The tank cars were 5 years old.

The other derailed cars were carrying corn syrup, wheat and malt.

Weener said video footage shot from the front of the train will be studied, as will maintenance
records of both the train and tracks.

The tracks in the area were ultrasonically inspected in April and are visually checked twice a
week, most recently on Monday.

“The areas that we have found to be having some abnormality probably relate more to the track
than anything else,” Weener said. For that reason, an NTSB metallurgist from Washington, D.C. is
expected to join the probe on Friday.

“His focus will be the track itself, the rails itself,” Weener said.

He said so-called “heat kinks,” which are caused when tracks buckle at high temperatures, likely
aren’t to blame. The derailment occurred well after the recent hot spell and in the relative cool
of the night, he noted.

Norfolk Southern told the NTSB that about 22 trains a day run on the tracks where the derailment
occurred. Investigators weren’t aware of any problems reported by earlier train crews in the day or
so before the crash, Investigator-in-Charge Cy Gura said.

Weener said that NTSB officials released the site to Norfolk Southern for cleanup after
gathering the evidence they needed. In an e-mail, Norfolk Southern spokesman Dave Pidgeon said it
was unclear when train traffic might resume. He did not return calls seeking further comment about
the company’s plans.

The NTSB team will remain in Columbus for likely another week. A preliminary report will be
issued within 30 days, but a final ruling on a cause is likely a year or more away.

“It’s very, very methodical and detail-oriented,” said Warren Flatau, a spokesman with the
Federal Railroad Administration, a regulatory agency that works closely with the NTSB. The FRA
enforces rail-safety regulations, promotes safe practices, and ensures that violations are
corrected.

“The occurrence of an accident itself does not result in a fine or a civil penalty or
enforcement action,” Flatau said. “Accidents do happen even if the railroads are in compliance with
federal regulations.”

Norfolk Southern Corp. operates 2,233 miles of track in Ohio, more than any other railroad,
according to the state’s rail plan.

The company reported 20 derailments in the state last year, according to FRA data. Only one was
in central Ohio, when two cars derailed at 3 mph in a Franklin County railyard.

So far this year, only one other derailment involving the railroad has occurred in central Ohio.
Four cars derailed at 5 mph in Pickaway County in January, causing about $54,000 in damage to the
cars and track.